In Osogoe, the capital town of Iwakuni City, Japan, a bridge that was destroyed during the devastating floods in western Japan in July 2018 has been rebuilt as a wooden structure by architects. This new bridge is set to become a symbol of the local community’s resilience and heritage.
Flanking both sides of the wooden bridge are sake factories and shops named Dassai, operated by Asahi Brewery, renowned for its distinctive sake production methods. These establishments generously funded the construction of the wooden sections of the bridge through donations.
To mitigate the risk of future disasters, the architects integrated a reinforced concrete (RC) frame with a 105 square meter cypress railing. The soft, flowing curves of the cypress arrangements echo the surrounding mountain landscape. Utilizing this common component size in Japanese wooden architecture, the bridge achieves a warm, nostalgic, and human-centered scale.
The architects have seamlessly merged Japan’s proud tradition of woodworking with advanced computational design technologies, resulting in a gentle, humanistic aesthetic never before seen in traditional civil engineering structures.
Project Drawings
△ Plan View
△ Elevation Drawing
△ Analysis Chart
△ Design Drawing
△ Design Drawing
Project Information
Architect: Kengo Kuma Architecture Urban Design Firm
Project Year: 2022
Photographer: Katsumasa Tanaka
Design Team: Mitsui Yokoo, Jun Horiki, Toshiro Ota, Lulu Sakamoto, Hossam Elbrrashi, Matsunaga Tomohiro
Project Construction: Rirong Xingye Co., Ltd., Lily Construction Industry
Project Collaboration: OAKplus
Location: Iwakuni City, Japan
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